St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko is discovering the same thing that Tyler Toffoli and Filip Forsberg found out earlier in these playoffs. It’s awful hard to score right now when they’re on the ice at the same time at even strength as Sharks defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun.

Tarasenko, who had 40 goals in the regular season, has been held without a point for five straight games in the Western Conference finals, the longest drought he’s had since his rookie year in 2013. It’s one of the reasons why the Sharks hold a three-games-to-two lead in the series with a chance to advance to their first Stanley Cup Finals in their history Wednesday night in Game 6.

“What happens with goal-scorers when they get frustrated is they look to hit home runs. We need him to just act like a worker,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Tuesday. “I know that’s a funny thing to say, but he’s looking for the home run. The guy he’s playing against (Vlasic), did the same thing to Toffoli and did the same thing to Forsberg. You can’t look for home runs. They’re not there. You’ve just got to stay in program, stay with a little bit longer, and trust your work.”

Toffoli, who led the Los Angeles Kings during the regular season with 31 goals, had one assist in the five-game opening round series against the Sharks. Forsberg had a team high 33 goals in the regular season and was an All-Star selection, but had just one goal and was a minus-9 in seven games for the Nashville Predators against San Jose.

Tarasenko might be the most dangerous player of them all, but he’s been silenced by the Vlasic and Braun tandem, who, in the last two months, have reasserted their status as one the premier shutdown defense pairs in the NHL.

“(Goal scores) feel that anxiety to try and score and help the team,” Hitchcock continued. “He’s looking to try to catch fastbreaks, he’s looking to try catch the other team napping. But when you play against guys like Vlasic, you’re not going to catch them napping. Maybe he doesn’t score the next game. But if he plays a good team game, probably he’s going to allow other people to score.

“He’s gotten himself too far away from the play, he’s gotten himself too stretched out, and we just need him to come back to the puck.”

Vlasic is also having a big impact offensively with one goal and nine assists. He is a team-high plus-12 for the playoffs, with Braun at a plus-7. Both were a plus-3 in Monday’s 6-3 Sharks win in Game 5.